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An evaluation of a performance management system within a division of a large organisation in the public sectorHerholdt, Memorie 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Today’s competitive and dynamic business world, solicits ever higher levels of performance and
productivity. At the core of this drive to higher performance is the enhancement and managing
of employees’ performance through a Performance Management system. Performance
Management however, is a very complex, multi-dimensional and integrated system with a
number of interacting critical prerequisites. Even in ideal circumstances, these fundamental
elements would, in all likelihood, not all be satisfied during the initial phases of implementing a
Performance Management system.
The concern existed, on the basis of the abovementioned probabilities, that the Performance
Management system of the Children and Families Division (CAF) of the Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS) of Tasmania, Australia, was not enjoying optimal operational
effectiveness. The aim of this study was to identify those factors in the system that are
underdeveloped, possibly unsuccessfully implemented or in need of attention as they impact
negatively on the effective running of the CAF’s Performance Management system.
A suitable tool for this diagnostic purpose already exists in the form of the Performance
Management Audit Questionnaire (PMAQ), developed by Spangenberg and Theron (1997).
Through administering and analysing the PMAQ results, the CAF could obtain a clear indication
of the system’s current effectiveness and would be able to identify where the problem areas are
in order to refine the system for greater operational effectiveness.
The results successfully identified the underdeveloped or absent areas of the organisation’s
current Performance Management system. The results further found a clear difference between
managerial and non-managerial perceptions of the effectiveness of the Performance
Management system. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of proposed
remedial actions that could be implemented to address the problem areas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ‘n Konstante strewe na steeds hoër vlakke van prestasie en produktiwiteit is aan die orde van die
dag in die huidige hoogs kompeterende en dinamiese besigheidswêreld. Die verbetering en
bestuur van werknemers se prestasie deur middel van ‘n Prestasiebestuurstelsel, blyk ‘n sleutel
te bied tot hierdie strewe na hoër prestasie. Prestasiebestuur is egter ‘n hoogs komplekse, multidimensionele
en geintegreerde stelsel met ‘n aantal interverwante kritieke vereistes. Selfs onder
ideale omstandighede, sou dit onwaarskynlik wees dat al hierdie fundamentele elemente
aangespreek sou kon word gedurende die anvanklike fases van die implementering van ‘n
Prestasiebestuurstelsel.
In die lig van die bogenoemde waarskynlikhede, het daar spesifiek twyfel geheers oor die mate
waartoe die Prestasiebestuurselsel van die ‘Children and Families’ (CAF) afdeling van die
‘Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in Tasmanië, Australie, optimale
operasionele effektiwiteit weerspieël. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die faktore binne die
stelsel te identifiseer wat onderskeidelik onderontwikkeld, onsuksesvol geimplementeer, of
aandag benodig het ten einde hulle negatiewe impak op die effektiewe bedryf van die CAF se
Prestasiebestuurstelsel aan te spreek.
‘n Geskikte hulpmiddel vir so ‘n diagnostiese doelwit het reeds bestaan in die vorm van die
Performance Management Audit Questionnaire (PMAQ) wat deur Spangenberg en Theron
(1997) ontwikkel is. Deur middel van die administrasie van die PMAQ en die analise van die
resultate, sou die CAF ‘n duidelike aanduiding kon verkry van die stelsel se effektiwiteit en sou
hulle die probleemareas kon identifiseer ten einde die stelsel tot groter operasionele effektiwiteit
te verfyn.
Die resultate het die leemtes en onder-ontwikkelde areas binne die organisasie se huidige
Presasiebestuurselsel suksesvol geidentifiseer. Die resultate het verder gedui op ‘n duidelike
verskil tussen die persepsies van bestuurders en nie-bestuurders oor die effektiwiteit van die
Prestasiebestuurstelsel. Die implikasies van hierdie bevindings word ten slotte bespreek in
terme van die voorgestelde remediëringsaksies wat geimplementeer sou kon word om die
probleemareas aan te spreek.
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An individual performance management system as a way of improving customer satisfaction at the City of Cape Town (Unicity) MunicipalityBrown, Mogamat Faizel 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of this research assignment is the evaluation of an individual Performance
Management system at local government level in the Cape Metropolitan Area. The
researcher has observed a possible decline in customer satisfaction towards the Cape
Metropolitan Council Administration and at other Administrations within the City of
Cape Town, and the press also highlighted complaints regarding the absence of an
entrenched customer care ethic among municipal officials. The researcher was
concerned with the way customers are being handled by municipal officials, and
sought to find a solution to the problem.
The researcher conducted research on what the ideal situation should be, and how
to reach the ideal situation, which included South African local government legislation
and discussion documents. The researcher also conducted an opinion survey (by
means of a questionnaire) within the CMC Administration, in order to obtain the
opinions of employees of the City of Cape Town's CMC Administration with regard to
perceptions of customer satisfaction, and the possible effect on customer satisfaction
should a Performance Management system be implemented within the City of Cape
Town.
It was found that, should a Performance Management system be introduced within
the City of Cape Town, it will contribute to efficiency in service delivery, and staff will
be held accountable for their work performance. It was also found that at local
government institutions (locally and internationally) where effective organisational
and individual Performance Management systems had been implemented, customer
satisfaction at these institutions has improved. It is therefore suggested by this
research that the City of Cape Town should implement an individual Performance
Management system and that customer satisfaction should improve over time. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die fokus van die navorsings opdrag is die evaluering van 'n individuele
werkverrigting- bestuurstelsel op die vlak van plaaslike regering in die Kaapse
Metropolitaanse Gebied. Die navorser het 'n moontlike afname in kliënte bevrediging
teenoor die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Raad (KMR) en ander Rade binne die Kaapse
Metropolitaanse Gebied opgelet, en die pers het ook klagte belig betrekkend die
afwesigheid van 'n verskansekliënte-sorg etiek onder munisipale amptenare. Die
navorser was bekommered met die manier waarop kliënte behandel is deur
munisipale amptenare, en het probeer om 'n oplossing te vind vir die probleem.
Die navorser het ondersoek ingestel, wat ingesluit het Suid_Afrikaanse plaaslike
regerings-wette en besprekings-dokumente, om uit te vind wat die ideale situasie is,
en hoe om hierdie situasie te bereik. Die navorser het ook 'n opinie opneming
ingestel (dmv. 'n vraelys) binne die KMR Administrasie, om sodoende die opinies van
die werkers van Stad Kaapstad se KMR Administrasie betreffend die waarnemings
van kliënt bevrediging, en die moontlike effek op kliënt bevrediging as 'n
werkverrigting bestuurstelsel in werking gebring word binne die Stad Kaapstad.
Daar is gevind, dat as 'n werkverrigting bestuurstelsel voorgestel word binne die Stad
Kaapstad, daar 'n verbetering sal wees in doeltreffendheid van diens gelewer, en
personeel sal verantwoordelik wees vir hul werkverrigtinge. Daar is ook gevind by
plaaslike regering-instansies (plaaslik en internasionaal) waar daar effektiewe
werkverrigting bestuurstelsels in werking gestel is, daar 'n verbetering in kliënte
bevrediging was. Dus word daar gesuggereer, deur dié navorser dat die Stad
Kaapstad 'n individuele-werkverrigting bestuurstelsel moet implementeer en dat
kliënt bevrediging mettertyd sal verbeter.
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Performance management : a practical way to re-aligning management styles, practices and competencies to improve organisational performance at Amatola District CouncilMama, Nolwandle Mickey 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / The aim of this study was to review the current status of the Performance
Management system at Amatola District Council. A study of material and a case
study on the implementation of the system at Amatola District Council is described.
The performance management model designed by Good People Management has
been applied and described in the text. The research results indicate that the majority
of staff supports and understand the process. However, feedback and the attitudes of
female employees thereof are highlighting red signals. This creates a completely new
area of research of which the writer is only highlighting the issue for further research.
Linking of performance management with compensation comes up as an issue,
understandably so because the Council has agreed not to link the two processes.
Recommendations on how to improve the system have been put forward.
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Identification and characterization of molecular modulators of methylmercury-induced toxicity and dopamine neuron degeneration in Caenorhabditis elegansVanDuyn, Natalia M. January 2014 (has links)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Methylmercury (MeHg) exposure from occupational, environmental and food sources is a significant threat to public health. MeHg poisonings in adults may result in severe psychological and neurological deficits, and in utero exposures can confer significant damage to the developing brain and impair neurobehavioral and intellectual development. Recent epidemiological and vertebrate studies suggest that MeHg exposure may contribute to dopamine (DA) neuron vulnerability and the propensity to develop Parkinson’s disease (PD). I have developed a novel Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model of MeHg toxicity and have shown that low, chronic exposure confers embryonic defects, developmental delays, reduction in brood size, decreased animal viability and DA neuron degeneration. Toxicant exposure results in an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the robust induction of several glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) that are largely dependent on the PD-associated phase II antioxidant transcription factor SKN-1/Nrf2. I have also shown that SKN-1 is expressed in the DA neurons, and a reduction in SKN-1 gene expression increases MeHg-induced animal vulnerability and DA neuron degeneration. Furthermore, I incorporated a novel genome wide reverse genetic screen that identified 92 genes involved in inhibiting MeHg-induced animal death. The putative multidrug resistance protein MRP-7 was identified in the screen. I have shown that this transporter is likely expressed in DA neurons, and reduced gene expression increases cellular Hg accumulation and MeHg-associated DA neurodegeneration. My studies indicate that C. elegans is a useful genetic model to explore the molecular basis of MeHg-associated DA neurodegeneration, and may identify novel therapeutic targets to address this highly relevant health issue.
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Identifying enhanced urban heat island convection areas for Indianapolis, Indiana using space-borne thermal remote sensing methodsBoyd, Kelly D. 02 April 2015 (has links)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Heat is one of the most important factors in our atmosphere for precipitation (thunderstorm) formation. Thermal energy from local urban land-cover is also a common source of heat in the lower atmosphere. This phenomenon is known as the urban heat island effect (UHI) and is identified as a substantial cause to a changing climate in surface weather modification. The proceeding study investigates this connection between the UHI and surface weather using remote sensing platforms A ten-year analysis of the Indianapolis UHI and thunderstorms were studied from the summer months of May, June, July, August and September (MJJAS) from 2002 until 2011. LANDSAT space borne satellite technology and land-surface based weather radar technology was used in this analysis for thunderstorm investigation. Precipitation areas identified from land-based NEXRAD WSR-88D technology were used to identify convection from non-synoptic forcing and non-normal surface diurnal heating scenarios. Only convection appearing from the UHI were studied and analyzed. Results showed twenty-one events over eighteen days with the year 2005 and 2011 having the largest frequency of events. The month of August had the largest concentration with seven events during the late afternoon hours. UHI results showed July had the largest heat island magnitude with April and September having the lowest magnitude in UHI temperatures. Three events of the twenty-one storm paths did not had a significant mean temperature difference in the heat island below the storm reflectivity. The nineteen storm paths that were significant had a warmer area underneath storm path development by an average 6.2°C than surrounding areas. UHI initiation points showed twelve of the twenty-one events having statistically significant differences between 2 km initiation areas and the rest of the study areas. Land-cover results showed low intensity developed areas had the most land-cover type (48%) in the 2km initiation buffer regions.
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Analysis of the Bioelectric Impedance of the Tissue-Electrode Interface Using a Novel Full-Spectrum ApproachSempsrott, David Robert 15 January 2014 (has links)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Non-invasive surface recording of bioelectric potentials continues to be an essential tool in a variety of research and medical diagnostic procedures. However, the integrity of these recordings, and hence the reliability of subsequent analysis, diagnosis, or recommendations based on the recordings, can be significantly compromised when various types of noise are allowed to penetrate the recording circuit and contaminate the signals. In particular, for bioelectric phenomena in which the amplitude of the biosignal is relatively low, such as muscle activity (typically on the order of millivolts) or neural traffic (microvolts), external noise may substantially contaminate or even completely overwhelm the signal. In such circumstances, the tissue-electrode interface is typically the primary point of signal contamination since its impedance is relatively high compared to the rest of the recording circuit. Therefore, in the recording of low-amplitude biological signals, it is of paramount importance to minimize the impedance of the tissue-electrode interface in order to consistently obtain low-noise recordings.
The aims of the current work were (1) to complete the development of a set of tools for rapid, simple, and reliable full-spectrum characterization and analytical modeling of the complex impedance of the tissue-electrode interface, and (2) to characterize the interfacial impedance and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the surface of the skin across a variety of preparation methods and determine a factor or set of factors that contribute most effectively to the reduction of tissue-electrode impedance and noise contamination during recording. Specifically, we desired to test an initial hypothesis that surface abrasion is the principal determining factor in skin preparation to achieve consistently low-impedance, low-noise recordings.
During the course of this master’s study, (1) a system with portable, battery-powered hardware and robust acquisition/analysis software for broadband impedance characterization has been achieved, and (2) the effects of skin preparation methods on the impedance of the tissue-electrode interface and the SNR of surface electromyographic recordings have been systematically quantified and compared in human subjects. We found our hypothesis to be strongly supported by the results: the degree of surface abrasion was the only factor that could be correlated to significant differences in either the interfacial impedance or the SNR. Given these findings, we believe that abrasion holds the key to consistently obtaining a low-impedance contact interface and high-quality recordings and should thus be considered an essential component of proper skin preparation prior to attachment of electrodes for recording of small bioelectric surface potentials.
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Spatiotemporal analysis of extreme heat events in Indianapolis and Philadelphia for the years 2010 and 2011Beerval Ravichandra, Kavya Urs 12 March 2014 (has links)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Over the past two decades, northern parts of the United States have experienced extreme heat conditions. Some of the notable heat wave impacts have occurred in Chicago in 1995 with over 600 reported deaths and in Philadelphia in 1993 with over 180 reported deaths. The distribution of extreme heat events in Indianapolis has varied since the year 2000. The Urban Heat Island effect has caused the temperatures to rise unusually high during the summer months. Although the number of reported deaths in Indianapolis is smaller when compared to Chicago and Philadelphia, the heat wave in the year 2010 affected primarily the vulnerable population comprised of the elderly and the lower socio-economic groups. Studying the spatial distribution of high temperatures in the vulnerable areas helps determine not only the extent of the heat affected areas, but also to devise strategies and methods to plan, mitigate, and tackle extreme heat. In addition, examining spatial patterns of vulnerability can aid in development of a heat warning system to alert the populations at risk during extreme heat events. This study focuses on the qualitative and quantitative methods used to measure extreme heat events. Land surface temperatures obtained from the Landsat TM images provide useful means by which the spatial distribution of temperatures can be studied in relation to the temporal changes and socioeconomic vulnerability. The percentile method used, helps to determine the vulnerable areas and their extents. The maximum temperatures measured using LST conversion of the original digital number values of the Landsat TM images is reliable in terms of identifying the heat-affected regions.
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Breccia of Frog Lakes : reconstructing Triassic volcanism and subduction initiation in the east-central Sierra Nevada, CaliforniaRoberts, Sarah Elizabeth 12 March 2014 (has links)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The Antler and Sonoma orogenies occurred along the southwest-trending passive Pacific margin of North America during the Paleozoic concluding with the accretion of the McCloud Arc. A southeast-trending sinistral transform fault truncated the continental margin in the Permian, becoming a locus for initiation of an east-dipping subduction zone creating the Sierran magmatic arc. Constrained in age between two early Triassic tuff layers, the volcanic clasts in the breccia of Frog Lakes represent one of the earliest records of mafic magmatism in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Tholeiitic rock clasts found in the breccia of Frog Lakes in the Saddlebag Lake pendant in the east central Sierra Nevada range in composition from 48% to 63% SiO2. Boninites produced by early volcanism of subduction initiation by spontaneous nucleation at the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc are more depleted in trace element concentrations than the clasts while andesites from the northern volcanic zone of the Andes produced on crust 50 km thick have similar levels of enrichment and provide a better geochemical modern analogue. Textural analysis of the breccia of Frog Lakes suggest a subaqueous environment of deposition from a mature magmatic arc built on continental crust > 50 km thick during the Triassic. The monzodiorites of Saddlebag and Odell Lakes are temporal intrusive equivalents of the breccia of Frog Lakes and zircon geochemistry indicates a magmatic arc petrogenesis.
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